Port of Lorain -salute to her people !

ED NOTE:Since much has been discussed about our Port and LPA I believe it is time to look back whilst we look forward.
This article was written by Renee Dore and was first published in July of last year.

Photo courtesy of LPA

Although their lives were lived long ago in a bygone era of Lorain’s history, the importance of their endeavors should never be forgotten.
A man who lived during that important time here in Lorain was William Wickens .We are all fortunate today for his insight in writing a descriptive book capturing what life was like during the 1800’s here. He must have been so proud of being a part of the transformations the city was undergoing that he wanted to preserve it on paper for generations to come.

He had a way of presenting his information that reading it today makes the reader seem like they are back in that time actually walking the streets and meeting the people whose stories he brings to life. One section of his book does just that- introduces the reader to some of the residents as it is written on pg. 105:

“Let us look in on the Lorain of 1893 and see some of the prominent men of other days as they walked the streets of the Village. There they are: lake captains, small merchants, a doctor or two. Some are living today, but most have passed on.”

The Lake Captains:
It’s a perfect time to spotlight some of these men and bring them out of the pages of this book and share what was so thoughtfully written about them. Also mentioned are the men who were involved with other port activities such as shipbuilding. There are many and each of their life stories could make for separate articles, but this article will mention a few-some with names familiar in Lorain’s history. Most lived in Charleston Village very near the harbor. They chose this area for convenience to the port, their ships and the harbor. Many homes are still here today.

Captain Henry Wallace: as written by Mr. Wickens

-“There is probably no more respected shipmaster on the lakes in”93 than Capt. Wallace. No honorary title: – he is a worthy master of his ship.” Captain Wallace immigrated to America in 1850 from the Emerald Isle arriving in Black River at the age of 22. He began working in the shipyards on the Black River. He sailed the lake for 28 consecutive years as captain and had the reputation for excellence and care in handling his vessels. He joined with Thomas Gawn and built the schooner “Thomas Gawn” in 1872 that served the lakes for 54 years. As he gathered wealth he became part owner in steel and steamer ships: “Robert Wallace”, sailing vessel “David Wallace” named after his brother who farmed land just west of Lorain (at that time). He was mentioned as one of the best known mariners of the town.

Capt. Thomas Wilford: He was written to be a prominent member the maritime circle on “93 in Lorain. He had been sailing the lakes (inland seas) for 34 years at that point. He was an immigrant coming from Northamptonshire, England in 1841. His family moved to Amherst, but he became fascinated by the boats at the Black River. He began to sail and worked his way to captain. He married Fannie Gilmore: the daughter of Capt. Alanson Gilmore. In 1884 he was sailing the “John M Osborne” on Lake Superior with his wife and their 2 daughters, hauling ore and pulling to other ships one being the Thomas Gawn just mentioned above. The steamer “Alberta” collided with the Osborne in a fog. Captain Wilford commanded the Alberta to keep forward and not back up. It gave Captain Wilford precious minutes to gather his family and crew before the Osborne sank taking a few crew members with her. His family returned safely to Lorain within a week. The Captain continued to sail but eventually became part owner of larger ships.

Mr. Wickens referred to Capt. Wilford “as one of the prominent men of the town and worthy seaman”. His home is still located just south of the original Masonic Temple building on Washington Ave.

Capt. Alexander McPhail: he was born in Scotland in 1831 at Greenock. He began his life as a sailor at the age 14 following the path of his father who was also a sailor. Mr. Wickens write that Alex served on vessels for 7 years sailing from Liverpool, England and Glasgow to the West and East Indies. It said that his young career took him around the world “as a man before the mast. He was a real sailor of the briny deep”. After his ship docked in Montreal in 1851, he turned his desire to the commerce of the Great Lakes and preferred freshwater sailing. He came to the Black River in Charleston Village in 1852 and from then on it was his home.

Mr. Wickens writes that he was a Captain and had sailed from Buffalo to Chicago on his own vessel, eventually sailing the entire chain of the Great Lakes. 1893 found Capt. McPhail a widower of 2 years and being a well known man in the community.

Capt. Robert Cowley: per Mr. Wickens

:” Capt. Robert Cowley was another maritime personage whose name was a synonym of good seamanship”.
Capt. Cowley’s parents came from the Isle of Man to Cleveland in 1828 and he was born in 1839. His father was a shipbuilder and Robert also learned the trade. He learned to sail and did that primarily in the summer months.
He came to Charleston Village in 1861 having lived in St. Louis and New Orleans for a few years. In 1864 he enlisted in the Navy during the Civil War. He was involved in the blockade of the West Gulf with Admiral Farragut. Cowley was on a gunboat that was torpedoed during the attempt to capture Mobile, Alabama. Cowley escaped death while half of the crew had been killed.

Upon his return to the Village here he sailed the lakes in the summer and helped build ships in the winter. He married Celia Lyons, daughter of W.S. Lyons, the shipbuilder of Charleston Village.

In 1899 Capt. Cowley was sailing from Buffalo to Duluth in horrible weather conditions according to a report in the “The Times”. Capt. Cowley stood atop the Pilot House for 35 hours before reaching Duluth going without rest and little food. The Capt. And crew had experienced stormy weather for the entire trip with temps reading 8-10 degrees below zero with snow falling the entire time. The boat was completely covered in ice and Capt. Cowley’s coat and cap had to be broken with an iron bar to release him. He never made another trip in those conditions again. He was age near 60 years old when he made that journey.

He then retired from sailing and became a city inspector in Lorain and was a member of the county board of visitors. His son was an accomplished physician in Kentucky. He also made his home in Charleston Village/ Lorain.

Capt. Alex Porter: He was the son of Nathaniel Porter and was born in Charleston Village in 1843. He was one of 8 children- the Porter family being well known in this community. He first sailed when he was 14. In 1859 at the age of 16 he was a seaman on the barge “Pierson” and sailed from Cleveland to Liverpool, England. And back via the Welland Canal.

ED NOTE ( in coming days I will be re running the Porter History as written by Maureen Smith) Porter House 503 Washington

How exciting and daring that must have been on a small ship at that age. By 1893 he had been a lake captain for 25 years and had sailed all of the great Lakes carrying wheat, ore, coal and timber for cargo. He and his 2 brothers owned and sailed a popular ship on the Great Lakes called “The Three Brothers”. The ship had been built by H. D. Root in Black River.

These are just a few of the men who risked their lives sailing on the Great Lakes from the small community along the Black River. Mr. Wickens writes” It is such characters as these that we have been describing who made Lorain such a famous harbor town”.

Other captains: Richard Thew who became the creator of the famous Thew Shovel and Plant.

Capt. Quartus Gillmore-son of the early settler GillmoreCapt. Alanson Gilmore- came to Black River in 1812 Alanson Gilmore

Related

Loraine, thanks for putting up that story on your blog again. The gray and dingy of this time of year seems to dissappear for a while looking at the summertime photo of the Port and daydreamimg back into our history. Our minds must have been on the same subject today because as I drove down West Erie near Hamilton I noticed a small cottage-like house for sale and thought about how the house was first owned in the late 1800’s by the shipcaptain family of Ralph Lyons. He was the son of W.S. Lyons- one of Lorain’s first shipbuilders- who by the way originally lived across the street where the American Legion is now. I thought how great it would be if the homes that still exsist in Charleston Village who belonged to those shipcaptains mentioned in today’s story had some sort of plaques on them so they would stand out as part of Lorain’s great nautical past. There at least would be some tangible connection for today back to the days gone by. I wondered how such a project could be done- where the financing would come from to get the plaques- maybe they could even be small yard plaques ( they have them on South Bass Island for their historic homes with history). It would be nice to have a book that is devoted entirely to Lorain’s history- the men and women of Lorain’s past. I don’t know if there is such a thing. Their persoanl photos, their homes that still are here, their stories- it would be an interesting book- especially for Lorain’s 175 anniverasy year this year. I don’t have the talents to put something like that together but maybe there is someone in the community who could. Just an idea, thanks, Renee

It would be great to have something tactile – blogs and articles on the internet are fine and can be pulled up ( if you know where to search) but it would be great to have a lasting record….. just as it would to have a record of the significant homes to Lorain’s history…..trouble is I think we are in the minority on this and none of us are very wealthy ….. but who knows we might uncover more of Lorain’s history and find out the George Washington really did sleep here :)

Errrrrrrrrr Kelly are you busy at the moment :)

4.renee dore | March 1, 2009 at 1:38 pm

Much of the research is done… with the house inventories in the 1990’s and the copies we have of the accounts by Wickens, Root, and some others written in the past…..

5.jim palmer | June 18, 2009 at 1:34 am

renee, just happened to stumble on this site ..congrats!!! my dad worked for thew shovel,although not during that time period!!lol! once again great reading!!!

6.renee dore | June 18, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Thanks- glad you had a chance to read this. Hopefully in the next few months we all might be able to share in more of Lorain’s great nautcial and industrial history as we honor the 175th Anniversary of Lorain. It will be celebrated on July 16th with other following events to be held in coordination with the Port Fest weekend.
Hopefully we can also take some time and hope for good things to come for this Great Lakes city. Renee

7.Terry | August 27, 2010 at 5:10 pm

does anyone have any history on the Captain Gilmore House @ 426 Washington Avenue?

8.thatwoman | August 27, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Terry I would suggest a call to the Black River Historical Society you can link to their website on the right hand side of this page. If memory serves Capt Gilmore was the father in law of Thomas Wilford who lived next door…. but I am a littel shaky on that ….also the Gilmore family have some archives here on this blog The Gilmores were one of the founding fathers of this city back in the early 1800’s